Once a Survivor, Never a Winner
by StarPotterTwilightHunger
Summary: OK, so in order for you to understand how Peeta's father fits into this story, you need to read it's prequel "Once a Victor, Never a Winner" by alatariel-gildaen. EXCELLENT AU fanfic, by the way - one of my favorites, I highly recommend it! Also, for more great fanfictions by me, check out my other channels: WizMonCruwil, ClintonBush43Obama, and Katnibellamione. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: The 76th Hunger Games

**Chapter 1: The 76th Hunger Games**

The 3rd Quarter Quell had been awful. One year after winning the Hunger Games alongside his partner and now wife, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark had had to watch his own father, Steffan Mellark, enter the arena per the Quell's twist: _"On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the people of Panem that the Capitol's control extends over all, two tributes will be reaped from the children of the district and a further two from the adults."_ So, against double the odds, Steffan had managed to pull off a victory, much like Haymitch Abernathy had before him a quarter of a century before.

Now, it was the Reaping for the 76th Games - a regular one, this time. Now with four living victors - out of five in Hunger Games history - and three of those winning two years in a row, District 12 had suddenly brought itself plenty of scrutiny and were now sudden favorites for winning this year. Mayor Undersee took his place on the stage and read off the standard spiel regarding the Dark Days.

"And now, we shall read off the names of past District 12 victors. For those who are no longer with us, please bow your heads in a moment of silence: Duke Vedaldi!" The district bowed their heads for their very first victor, long since dead. Peeta knew that the man had won the 13th Games and had been Haymitch's mentor, but not much else. He would have to ask the old drunk…..

"Haymitch Abernathy! Peeta Mellark! Katniss Everdeen Mellark! Steffan Mellark!" The quartet stood and waved before sitting back down. Well, Haymitch and Steffan fell back down into their seats, clinking their flasks together.

That was the sad part of it all. Following making history by not only winning a Quarter Quell, but also making him and Peeta the first father-and-son duo to win the Games, Steffan had become a bit of a drunk in the last year, drowning his sorrows in his new home in the Victor's Village. In the process, he had divorced his hated wife, and Peeta's brothers had had to take over the family bakery. How could a man fall so far so fast?

Well, Peeta sighed, at least in Haymitch, his father had a buddy. And if he became a drunken joke, it helped him avoid the horrible fate Peeta and his wife had to endure….

Never mind that they were now married. Both were still forced into prostitution by President Snow, to pleasure the wealthy Capitol elite. Having to watch each other being fucked by other people nearly tore the lovers apart, but they had no choice.

Peeta's dark thoughts were halted by his wife planting a kiss on his cheek. Effie was about to start the Reaping.

"Ladies first!" Peeta felt Katniss tense beside him. At 14, her sister Prim was still eligible to be reaped.

"Jasmine Cronin!" Katniss breathed a sigh of relief but Peeta stiffened. Jasmine's brother, Rafe, had been reaped for the Quell last year as the boy tribute. A butcher's son, he had become a force to be reckoned with and a threat to his dad in the arena. The ruthless boy had made it to the Top Three before Steffan had managed to kill him with the help of his ally, a little boy from District 5 named Yohan. No doubt Jasmine would feel resentful toward the old baker for killing her brother so close to the end. Indeed, the girl - who looked to be about 17 - took the stage staring daggers at Steffan, who had fallen quiet.

"And now for the boys!" Effie retrieved another slip. "Marquis Manchin!" An African American boy of perhaps 13 years took the stage. Peeta heard Haymitch groan beside him. He knew why: anyone younger than 15 (with only one exception) was almost guaranteed to die in the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your tributes from District 12!" Jasmine and Marquis shook hands and the whole entourage was escorted by Peacekeepers onto the train.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair. But even that was soon punctured once Haymitch and Steffan had gone through a few rounds, by which point both men had started singing a sad drinking song.

"Raise a glass to freedom! Something you will never see again! No matter what they tell you!" both man slurred through the singing, off-key and all.

Peeta slumped a little lower in his seat, wanting to disappear, and Effie winced. Jasmine and Marquis looked thoroughly unimpressed, Jasmine especially. The girl finally had the good sense to get the ball rolling by pointedly turning to Katniss and Peeta.

"OK, since those two blubbering fools won't help us, I guess you lovebirds are our only hope. How do we win?"

Peeta sat a little straighter. "First of all, one of those 'blubbering fools' is my father, and you will do well to respect him as such. Second…."

"Respect him? Respect him?!" Jasmine screeched. "He killed my brother! He's a cheat! He only won because his precious boy did - you didn't even try to help Rafe!"

Peeta slammed a hand down on the table. "These are the Hunger Games, Jasmine! In order to cheat, there would have to be rules, and in this contest, there are none! And you know what, you're right - I didn't help Rafe because he was an asshole and had a vendetta against my dad besides! He didn't deserve to win!"

"He did so! He killed lots of tributes! All your old man did was knock a gal out, then kill one guy and Rafe after children had to assist him!" She did not mention how the arena had manipulated Steffan into killing Yohan, which Peeta was relieved for.

"Nevertheless," Peeta barked. "What's done is done! He won, he's here, he's alive! He will be your mentor, so you either respect him as such or you get no help from any of us! Are we clear?"

Jasmine sat down, fuming. "Crystal," she muttered at last.

Peeta nodded in approval.

"Raise a glass to freedom! Let's have another round tonight…."

"Dad, Haymitch, will you two cut it out?! We have to start mentoring!" Sensing Peeta's frustration, Steffan and Haymitch stopped signing and tried to clue in, though it took all their resources to do even that.

"How do we win?" Jasmine repeated. The four victors looked at each other. "Look, three of you won in back-to-back years, one of them a Quell. District 12 hasn't been this unembarrassed in decades. There must be some formula you Mellarks figured out. How do we win?"

"You don't," Steffan said pointedly. Peeta nodded in agreement and approval. His dad had learned much in the arena and had obviously remembered the tutorials on mentoring he and Haymitch had given him. "You can only survive. The arena will change you in ways that you might not realize yet, but you will."

"Amen, brother!" Haymitch crowed in agreement. The two clinked shot glasses and were about to down them when Katniss cleared her throat and gave both her father-in-law and adopted father a pointed look. The two drunks sheepishly put the glasses down. If Katniss had lost patience, that meant they really had to clue in. Haymitch now picked up where Steffan had left off.

"The first thing we need to sort out for the two of you is your angle. How do you want to play the media once we're in the Capitol? Will you be coy? Aloof? Sexy?"

"Beyond that," Katniss filled in. "There will be training. Over those three days, you will be tempted to show off what you are strongest at. Here's the twist: don't. Save your real talents for the Gamemakers, and spend the three training days learning things you might not know. Then, and only then, will you be as equipped as you can be for whatever the arena has in store. Here's how you do it….


	2. Chapter 2: Into the Arena

**Chapter 2: Into the Arena**

The Mellarks and Haymitch gave Jasmine and Marquis all the advice they could. By the time their train reached the Capitol, the media was swarming over the District 12 tributes. Having racked up back-to-back wins, the other tributes and mentors were studying the outlier district very closely, to see if they could steal an advantage or secret from them somehow.

Following the chariot rides, the tributes were whisked away to begin Training. Peeta gave Jasmine and Marquis one last piece of advice:

"Advice on allies can vary from year to year. Given our district's rising status, I would say this: don't make any allies. Some will try to get in your good graces, but they are sure to have an ulterior motive. Just stick with each other."

The three days of training passed quickly. In the evenings, the District 12 victors paired off to prep their tributes for the interviews - father and son with Marquis, while Haymitch and Katniss helped Jasmine.

The night before the interviews, the Training Scores came back from the tributes' private sessions with the Gamemakers. Marquis pulled a 6, while Jasmine pulled a 10. As soon as the two were sent off to bed, Haymitch pointed to his crew. "Now we know who to hedge our bets with."

Peeta sighed. They would put their hope in Jasmine to win, though he wasn't happy about it. Her hatred for Steffan had simmered down to a mere cordiality, which the older Mellark had noticed. If Jasmine did win, she would probably spend the rest of her days tormenting Steffan for his hand in her brother's murder.

Then came the interviews. Caesar Flickerman was as jovial as ever and was especially fascinated by the District 12 tributes. He put a normally shy Marquis at ease. But the real star was Jasmine.

"And here she is, Jasmine Cronin! Now that last name seems familiar…. if I'm not mistaken, Rafe Cronin was a very promising tribute last year, got 3rd place. He's your brother?"

Jasmine nodded. "Yes. And he did quite well. Before Peeta's old man cheated him out of a win!"

The audience gasped and whispered to each other. Caesar nodded sympathetically.

"It must be hard to be mentored by your brother's killer, huh?"

"Steffan is not my mentor. But, no matter. I'm going to win this thing. I will put the Cronin name in the Hunger Games history books, and when I come out of that arena, I will spend the rest of my life being a thorn in Steffan Mellark's side!" she vowed. The buzzer sounded.

"Potential victor rivalry there!" Caesar crowed. "Well, best of luck to you, Jasmine Cronin!"

* * *

That night, Katniss awoke in the middle of the night to find Peeta's side of the bed empty. But she soon could hear his voice, along with Haymitch's.

"She threatened my father on national television, Haymitch! Even Rafe didn't do that when he had to face Dad in the arena!"

"So? She's not safe. Your dad is."

"Not if she gets out alive, he won't be."

"What's she gonna do, kill him?"

"Wouldn't put it past her."

"Peeta, wake up! Jasmine has the best chance of winning! If we could pull off a hat-trick, three in a row? No district - not even the Careers - has done that before! If we aren't already rising in status already, we could be a real contender in the future!"

"Oh for Christ's sake, Haymitch! This is not about you!"

"Nor about you!"

Katniss headed into the hallway to find Haymitch, Peeta and Steffan standing around together. Steffan put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Haymitch is right, Peeta. We may not like Jasmine, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to help her win. You made that mistake last year with Rafe."

"I did not make a mistake, Dad! I didn't help Rafe because there was another in there who I liked more, who I _loved_ \- you!"

Katniss cleared her throat, and the men turned around. She awkwardly tugged at the hem of her nightgown.

"I woke up and you were gone." Peeta deflated and walked calmly over to her, giving her a warm kiss.

"Get some sleep, my children," Steffan advised his son and daughter-in-law softly. He turned to his drinking buddy. "Fancy some spirits, Haymitch?"

"Lead on, my friend. I'm not getting any sleep tonight, anyway."

Peeta wanted to talk them out of it, but refrained. Instead, he and Katniss returned to their chambers and fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

The victors woke early the next morning to escort their tributes to the hovercraft.

"Any last bit of advice?" Marquis asked. The four mentors looked at each other.

"Stay alive," they chorused.

The group said their goodbyes. "May the odds be ever in your favor, Jasmine," Steffan said quietly, trying to be nice to her. Jasmine just shrugged.

"Whatever. See you later, Mellark," she responded flippantly. And then both were gone. Steffan turned to the others and shrugged.

"I tried."

Steffan, Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch then went down to the Mentor's Bar, where the previous victors could watch the Games. As soon as the four entered, the other victors turned to look at them and then cheered.

"Make way for the underdogs turned top dogs!" Finnick Odair from District 4 crowed, leading the group into the midst of the others. He got up on the bar itself and called for quiet. "Hear ye, hear ye! And now, it is time to initiate our newest member into the tribe!"

Everyone looked to Steffan, who flustered. "I wasn't planning on giving a speech."

"Of course not, Steffan! You don't have to! It's standard tradition to welcome the previous year's Victor into the family. We did it for your kiddies last year!" Finnick waggled his eyebrows at Katniss and Peeta, amidst laughter.

"Our newest member went into a Quarter Quell, with odds not seen since another District 12 tribute from long ago!" More laughter at Haymitch. "With his come-from-behind win, he made history in several ways all at once: Not only did he make District 12 the first district to win two Quarter Quells, he gave us the first back-to-back wins for a district in over a decade! Moreover, he became the first Victor to have been the father of a Victor! And with his son's marriage, three Mellarks have won the Hunger Games, making them the largest family of Victors in Panem history - bigger than the Ritchson-Schlund twins and their consecutive wins for District 1! So…. give it up for our newest family member - Steffan Mellark!" Roars split the air as Finnick pulled Steffan up onto the bar and raised his arms over his head.

The celebration died down and people went back to getting ready for the Games, but Finnick was not done yet. He dragged the District 12 victors over to one end of the bar.

"Steffan, meet your predecessor. The Victor of the First Quarter Quell - District 8's Indigo Weaver." The reformed thief from another outlying district - a tall, handsome man - stood to shake Steffan's hand.

"I was rooting for you hard last year," Indigo confessed. "Couldn't bear to see Peeta lose his father. You join me and old Haymitch on a unique pedestal in Hunger Games history."

"Come on, now! Selfie with the Quarter Quell Victors! Smile everyone!" Finnick threw Indigo, Haymitch and Steffan together and took a selfie. "And that's going on Instagram and Facebook!"

Katniss laughed, but Peeta looked unsure. She squeezed his arm.

"Oh, come on, Peeta. They love him! Let him make some new friends, he'll be fine!" She kissed his cheek, and Peeta relaxed. She was right. The other victors did love his father. Already, dozens were coming up to the normally quiet baker and peppering him with questions. Haymitch interrupted Peeta's thoughts.

"Come on, lovebirds! It's almost 10 AM! We better get some good seats." He grabbed Steffan away from admirers and pulled him along to a row of seats right at the bar, with great view of the screens.

"I don't think I'm ready for this, Haymitch," the old baker confessed.

"No one ever is, Steffan. These two weren't." Haymitch waved in Katniss and Peeta's direction. "Just try and get used to it."

Steffan stole a glance at his former mentor. "If I faint, you'll catch me, right?"

"Faint, pass-out drunk, swoon, it doesn't matter. I'll be here." Haymitch filled a glass. "Cheers, mate." The two clinked glasses and downed the contents.

The screams in the bar became deafening as 10 AM struck and the screens came to life. Victors called above the din:

"District with the first death buys drinks the rest of the day!"

"Take a shot for every death!"

"Place your bets, place your bets! Which district makes it through the Bloodbath intact?"

On the screen, Peeta spotted Marquis looking thoroughly terrified. Another TV showed Jasmine - a few pedestals down, it seemed - looking resolute. Then came a wide shot of the whole arena.

Peeta stared. The arena was the within the bowels of a ruined, run-aground, half-sunken ship. The Cornucopia was in the boiler room, already knee-deep in water. The countdown began.

"10….9….8…..7….6….5….4….3….2….1…" The gong sounded, and the 24 tributes leapt off their pedestals. Immediately, something was wrong.

"Shit! I told Marquis to run away! Marquis, turn around!" Peeta yelled desperately.

Steffan looked to his son, then back at Haymitch as he felt a shot glass pressed into his hand. "For the pain," his fellow drunk told him with sad eyes.

On screen, Marquis was feet from the Cornucopia, headed for a backpack when the unusually monstrous boy from District 10 blocked his path, a samurai sword in hand. Marquis didn't even have time to turn and run before the blade slashed across his stomach and he keeled over. BOOM.

Laughter pierced the air.

"Cannon! Take a shot!" Gloss Ritchson-Schlund called. Steffan did involuntarily.

"And District 12 is on tab for the rest of the day!" Brutus Gunn chuckled. "Streak ain't so hot now, is it?"

Katniss glared at him. "Jasmine's still in this."

And indeed she was. Jasmine had been one of the first to reach the Cornucopia. She seized a backpack and, to her delight, found a meat cleaver amongst the weapons. Then she ran away from the Bloodbath. Yards away, however, she paused, not sure where to go. Katniss began to panic.

"She has to move! There's gotta be a way out!"

"There!" her father-in-law pointed quietly. Off to one side, against the wall so that you almost missed it, was an elevator with a sealing door, meant to evacuate boiler men in the event of a flooding. Jasmine soon spotted it, and headed straight for it, clambering in and figuring out how to shut the giant door so it would take her to the slanted decks above.

Katniss breathed a sigh of relief. One tribute was OK…. for now.

The Bloodbath continued unabated, with only several other tributes managing to flee in the knee-deep water. The water stained red with blood. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM…..

When Katniss finished counting, twelve cannons had gone off, including the one for Marquis. Jasmine, meanwhile, had reached what looked to be the ship's dining room and paused to rest. The Career alliance had taken over the Cornucopia, and whoever was left had escaped to other floors.

"Where are they supposed to get food?" Katniss wanted to know. A man-made arena setting did not exactly have wild animals prowling about. Haymitch waved away her concern.

"Jasmine's in the dining room. Where there's a dining room, there's a kitchen and where there's a kitchen, there's food."

"Yeah. Spoiled food." Peeta muttered. Haymitch ignored him.

Night fell a few hours later with no new events. The Capitol anthem appeared in the sky. Jasmine spotted it through a window. The dead tribute's faces soon followed:

Both from District 3. The girl from 5. The boy from 6. The girl from 7. Both from 8 and 9. Both from 11. And Marquis from 12.

The Careers from 1, 2 and 4 had all lived. What's more, they had taken the huge boy from 10 into their ranks.

"Where's his district partner?" Peeta wanted to know.

Haymitch pointed to a screen that showed the girl from 10 in what looked like a loading and storage warehouse on one of the ship's upper levels. "She's smart. A good place to set up camp and hide. But tomorrow, the Careers will start to go into the upper levels to hunt."

Just then, a woman approached the quartet. "I would like to sponsor a gift for Jasmine Cronin."

"Yes, of course! What's the payment?" Peeta asked. The woman stared at him hard, and Peeta nodded solemnly, understanding. "Oh." He glanced back at his father, who was thankfully too busy drinking to notice. _Better me than him._

"Excuse me one moment." He turned around and kissed his wife deeply. She pulled away after a long moment lovingly.

"I know," she whispered sympathetically, and Peeta left with the woman.


	3. Chapter 3: Mentoring Year After Year

**Chapter 3: Mentoring Year After Year**

The Games was a very short one. After Day 2 passed with no deaths, the Gamemakers decided to flood the rest of the boiler room with water. All of the Career pack drowned except for the boy from 10 and both District 4 tributes (who obviously could swim). The three made it into an elevator and outran the rising tides to upper levels of the ship. Thus, the Final 8 was established.

On Day 4, the boys from 5 and 7 in an alliance managed to break out onto the top deck of the ship. On the slanted, half-submerged aft deck, they encountered the girl from 6. Wielding a large wrench, she managed to attack and kill the boy from 5 before locking in a fierce duel with the boy from 7 and his axe. Finally, she managed to wrest the axe away from her adversary and kill him, but only after being severely wounded. Suddenly, a meat cleaver popped out of her body and she, too, died. Three cannons sounded, and Jasmine was revealed, smiling wickedly.

"When did she get to the top deck?" Haymitch asked, astonished.

"She found the kitchens and took the dumbwaiter up. You must have been too drunk to realize," Peeta explained, long since back from his soiree that first night.

With her first vicious kill, more sponsors came up wanting to fund Jasmine. Katniss managed to send her tribute another meat cleaver.

Meanwhile, the boy from 10 and the tributes from 4 had reached the loading and storage room. The Victors in the bar were screaming with excitement, just relishing a battle with the girl from 10. Suddenly, a pile of boxes from high up fell and crushed the District 4 girl. Her partner then turned on the boy from 10. After a fierce battle in which he was wounded, the boy from 10 managed to snap his foe's neck.

The cameras caught the District 10 girl creeping up on her district partner. Like Jasmine before her, she hoped to take out the remaining tribute while he was still weak. Unlike Jasmine, she was out of luck. Her partner, Clayton, managed to fight her off and beat her to death with her own scythe. A sponsor parachute came down moments later

Six more tribute's faces appeared in the sky that night.

"Top Two already! We could win again!" Haymitch crowed. "That Clayton barely escaped twice, he's pretty weak. If Jasmine could just get down here….or if Clayton could go up there…."

"He won't." The District 12 victors looked over at their colleague, Jackson Spidell, Clayton's District 10 mentor. "Clayton is big, but he's not stupid. He'll give himself time to heal. Once he's back to full power…. your girl won't stand a chance."

On Day 5, the Gamemakers began to flood the ship again, forcing Clayton to flee to the top deck. He soon was forced to come face-to-face with Jasmine.

There was a fierce fight, meat cleaver on scythe, but it had to be temporarily abandoned, when the floodwaters overflowed onto the top deck. Clayton and Jasmine scrambled into the rigging, climbing until they got cornered in the lookout's crows nest. The fight resumed. Despite Clayton's brute strength, Jasmine was fast and managed to find some room to maneuver.

But it wasn't enough. Clayton got past Jasmine's defenses and plunged his scythe into her stomach. The girl lost her balance and fell with a scream from the crows nest, hitting the water hard. Her body floated limp on the tides as the final cannon boomed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 76th Annual Hunger Games: Clayton Warren of District 10!"

Haymitch swore and knocked over his shot glass. "Fuck! We almost had the hat trick!"

Jackson was more gracious in victory. He reached over and shook Steffan's hand. "Good game, fellas. You have had some impressive tributes the last few years. So close. Maybe next year."

Peeta was bummed about Haymitch's hat trick hopes being dashed, but also secretly relieved. If Jasmine had won…. she would have made his dad's life hell. Still, two consecutive wins and a runner-up finish a third year had to count for something.

* * *

No other tribute from 12 would win, or even come close like Jasmine did, in the years following. A few notable exceptions made it into the Final 8, but were usually killed soon after. The rest almost always died in the initial Bloodbath.

The Star-Crossed Lovers were not given any time to relax, though. Besides the prostitution at every Games, President Snow was hounding the couple to give him a child. Katniss stalled as long as she could, terrified that any children of hers would be reaped for the arena.

So, she screamed and wailed when she discovered that she was pregnant by Peeta soon after the 90th Games. The next March, she gave birth to a girl whom she named Clementine. Steffan was overjoyed to be a grandfather, Haymitch an adopted one. Just over two years later, a boy was born to the Mellarks: Eric.

For the first few years, the children stayed with their Aunt Prim and her husband, Rory Hawthorne, and visited with their Grandma Everdeen, while the Mellarks and Haymitch would leave to attend the Games. Once each was old enough, Katniss and Peeta were pressured into bringing both to the Capitol for the event. Katniss agreed, under the condition that they got to meet with the Victors before the Games and then stay with Effie in their rooms the rest of the time.

On and on it went like this…..


	4. Chapter 4: The 4th Quarter Quell

**Chapter 4: The 4th Quarter Quell**

9-year-old Clementine and 7-year-old Eric waited patiently as their mother fixed dinner. 42-year-old Katniss Mellark finally presented bowls of pasta for them.

"Boys! Supper's ready!" There was a thundering down the stairs as Peeta, 66-year old Haymitch and 67-year old Steffan burst into the kitchen.

"Eat quickly," Katniss told her family. "Mom, Prim and Rory will be over soon to watch the mandatory programming."

Ah, yes. The 4th Quarter Quell was here, and that meant President Snow would be presenting the Reading of the Card to give that year's twist.

Soon, the Mellarks, Hawthornes, Mrs. Everdeen and Haymitch were gathered on the couch to watch the program. Snow came to the podium.

"Happy Hunger Games! This year is our 100th anniversary, and that means our 4th Quarter Quell." He then began to list the past Quarter Quells:

"On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that would represent it."

Katniss wondered what it had been like for Indigo Weaver to be betrayed by his own neighbors. The District 8 icon, by now a close family friend, was in his early 90s and in failing health. He'd be at the Games this year, no doubt eager to play with Eric and Clementine before the event started.

"On the fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder that two rebels died for every Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes. On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the people of Panem that the Capitol's control extends over all, two tributes were reaped from the children of the district and a further two from the adults."

Katniss looked down the couch at the Victors of those Quells - her father-in-law and the closest thing she had to a father. Both chinked flasks and, despite Mrs. Everdeen's frown of disapproval, drank.

"And now we honor our 4th Quarter Quell." A boy presented Snow with a box filled with envelopes. Snow picked the one labeled 100, and pulled out the card. Without pausing, he announced: "On the one-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder that rebels destroyed future generations, the tributes will be selected from the ages of 5 to 11."

Katniss screamed and buried her face, sobbing, into Peeta's shirtfront. Haymitch and Steffan gave roars of anger, hurling their bottles at the TV screen.

Clementine and Eric would be eligible to be Reaped. And if Katniss knew Snow…. one, if not both her children would be entering the arena.

* * *

The Reaping dawned hot and sultry. Effie, ever the loyal escort, went through the process barely holding it together. The girl's name had Katniss collapse in tears without caring who saw.

"Clementine Mellark." The little girl took the stage and nodded bravely to her family.

The boy was named John Lacter, an 11-year-old and a milkman's son. It gave Katniss only small comfort. At least Eric was safe.

The entourage was herded into the trains and off they went.

Dinner was quiet, as usual. Unlike most years, John and Clementine did not ask for advice. Clementine did not need to; by now, she knew what was at stake. She had seen enough on the TV in her Capitol rooms when she was younger. John, for his part, seemed to have given up, leaving the table as soon as the meal was over without another word.

"Good. Even though he's older, we may not have to worry about him." Haymitch groused.

Peeta stared. "I thought you said we should help our tributes, whether we like them or not."

"That's true, boy. But that doesn't mean we don't have favorites. If my granddaughter isn't a favorite, I don't know who is!" He jerked a thumb at Clementine.

The train soon arrived in the Capitol. The media was swarming over District 12 more than usual, no doubt because a Mellark would be returning to the arena. The chariot rides went by in a blur, and soon the tributes were being put in the Training Center.

Training began the next day. Katniss knelt down in front of her daughter: "Remember, don't show what you're good at. Learn something new. Try to make some friends."

Clementine nodded. "I promise, Mama."

Three days later, all the tributes had their private session with the Gamemakers. Clementine scored a 7, John nabbed a 4. The other 11-year-olds, particularly in the Career districts, all scored higher. Haymitch groaned while Katniss curled into Peeta for comfort. "Brace yourselves, lads."

Then came the interviews. When Clementine finally took the stage, there was roaring and stamping of feet from the audience. Caesar was practically delirious with happiness.

"Another Mellark!" he crowed. "Now, Clementine, you come from a very famous family. Are there a lot of prima donnas back home?"

Clementine laughed. "No, Caesar. There's just Mama and Daddy, Pappy Mellark and Grandpa Haymitch. I am very fortunate to come from such a loving family, famous or not." The audience Awwwed.

"Your grandfathers have defended the Quarter Quell title for over 50 years. Think you can give District 12 a third win?"

"I have the advantage," Clementine said confidently. "Grandpa and Pappy have given me plenty of pointers!" She waved at them. Haymitch and Steffan, sporting flasks and already plastered drunk, waved back with idiotic grins on their faces.

The buzzer sounded.

"Clementine Mellark, going for her family's third win!" Caesar announced.

* * *

That night, Katniss refused to let Clementine out of her sight. She cuddled with her parents in their bed, both of them holding her all through the dark hours…


	5. Chapter 5: Into the Arena (Part II)

**Chapter 5: Into the Arena (Part II)**

The next day, the District 12 victors gave their tributes big hugs. Katniss almost could not let her daughter go.

"Stay alive," she whispered through her tears. "Please."

Clementine nodded before letting her father hold her. Then, Haymitch and Steffan wrapped her in a group hug.

"Come back alive, little one," Haymitch coaxed.

"Remember, Clementine, you are a Mellark," Steffan reassured his granddaughter. "Like it or not, the arena's in your blood."

As soon as the hovercraft was gone, the four went down into the Mentor's Bar. Immediately, they ran into Finnick.

"Guys! We've taken up a collection. Whatever amount of money it takes, we're going to put toward sponsors to help Clementine win."

Katniss stared at him before looking to Indigo, in the wheelchair at Finnick's side. He nodded solemnly. A whole crowd of victors had gathered behind them, except for the Career mentors off to one side. Pushing to the front, Clayton Warren emerged with a bag of coins. He thrust it into Steffan's hand. "For Clementine."

"Yeah! Yeah! For Clementine!" calls went up.

Katniss surveyed the room. Victors willing to sacrifice their own tributes so her daughter could come home safely. Her eyes filled with tears. Despite killing in an arena and living to tell about it, her fellow Victors really did have some humanity in them. More than being just a staple favorite at the bar in previous years, they loved her daughter and they were disgusted that she had been forced into the arena just because of who she was. Obviously, the Careers wouldn't care; they were in it for themselves. But maybe, just maybe….

"It's almost 10:00! Game time, everybody! If we're gonna do this, we have to be on!"

Everyone took their places in the bar. Haymitch and Steffan poured themselves liquor.

"Raise a glass," both men chorused.

The TV screens came to life, revealing an arena placed at an abandoned airport. The Cornucopia was on the tarmac, old planes jutting out in the space around it. A screen showed Clementine, then John.

Then, Peeta noticed something. "Are the Careers supposed to be all clustered closely on the pedestals?"

Steffan looked. Indeed, the six Careers were grouped together, three to each side, with John in the center pedestal. Evidently, John noticed this, too, for his brow creased in thought. Suddenly, the boy unceremoniously stepped off his pedestal.

KABOOM! John was blown to bits by the land mines, which set off another round, then another and another. By the time the Gamemakers put up a shield to stop the explosions, John and the Careers were all dead. The Victors cheered.

"Clementine's odds just went way up!" a victor named Julie cried. Nobody paid any attention to the swearing from the Career mentors.

The countdown ended, and the 17 remaining tributes leapt off their plates. Clementine, following her mother's instructions, ran the other way.

"Where's she going?" Brutus wondered aloud.

As the cries of mere children killing each other split the air, Clementine reached the base of a fighter jet. A rickety ladder led up to the cockpit. Quickly, the little girl began to climb.

"Those things can't possibly fly! She can't escape! Can she?" Haymitch turned to Peeta. Katniss's husband shook his head.

"I don't know…."

Clementine reached the cockpit and squeezed herself in. A camera showed her fiddling with the controls, before cutting back to the Bloodbath. All the really little ones had been killed and now the bigger kids were fighting it out. On this went until only four other tributes remained - all ten-year-olds from various districts.

The boy from 8 suddenly noticed Clementine in the cockpit. He and the other tributes, in an alliance, stalked towards the jet.

"CLEMENTINE! RUN!" Katniss screamed.

KABOOM. But the sound didn't come from a land mine. Or a cannon. Next second, the dead body of the boy from 8 was being flung backward into the air. Before the others could run - KABOOM. KABOOM.

Clementine had somehow managed to reactivate the missile systems of the fighter jet and was firing at the tributes.

The victors were cheering. Peeta jumped up and down, squeezing his wife's arm. "She's gonna win! She's gonna win!"

Clementine took aim at her last competitor, the girl from 7, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The Gamemakers had shut down the missile systems.

An old victor named Beetee looked at his watch. "Top Two in the first twenty minutes! We might set a record!"

But the other Victors were not paying any attention to him, roaring in disapproval. Clementine had no choice but to emerge from the fighter jet and approach the girl from 7. Katniss looked at the girl's mentor, Johanna Mason. Johanna waved her worry away.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, brainless, but I want your girl to win. Hillary is too bloodthirsty for my taste."

Katniss watched nervously as Clementine and Hillary circled each other.

"So close there, Pipsqueak Mellark," Hillary growled. "But just because you're from a Victor family doesn't mean you get to win. That crown…. it belongs to me!"

Clementine, now without any weapon, stood her ground. "Come and get it, then!"

Hillary let out a rebel yell and raised her axe high, sprinting at Clementine. At the last second, the Mellark girl dodged and grabbed Hillary's arm, twisting the axe away. Before Hillary knew what was happening, Clementine had seized the weapon and tackled her, pinning her to the ground and bringing the blade down on her neck.

BOOM.

Bedlam in the Mentor's Bar. Steffan and Haymitch were drinking till they were sick and passing out shots to everyone, Johanna and Finnick danced around in a circle, Beetee was hopping up and down on the spot and showing off his watch.

"The fastest, shortest Hunger Games ever! Twenty-six minutes! A record!"

And Katniss and Peeta? They were kissing furiously, making out, ecstatic that their daughter would be coming home alive.


	6. Chapter 6: Three Generations

**Chapter 6: Three Generations**

The period after the Games was a flurry of activity. After Clementine explained how she had learned electronics in Training and that's how she managed to rewire the fighter jet missiles, she got to have her interview with Caesar. President Snow placed the Victory Crown on her head, barely able to hide his seething.

A photographer then took pictures. The first featured Indigo, Haymitch, Steffan and Clementine - all four Quarter Quell Victors. Then the Mellark victors - Steffan, Katniss, Peeta and Clementine - were photographed.

President Snow now came forward. "Congratulations. How extraordinary. Three generations of victors. Four all in one family…. The Mellark name will be immortal in Hunger Games history."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Peeta nodded civilly.

Before anyone knew it, the Mellarks were back in District Twelve.

* * *

25 more years passed. Once again, the Mellark family and their relatives had to gather around the television for the announcement of the 5th Quarter Quell. A new President - Snow had died years before - gave the Reading of the Card. 67-year-olds Peeta and Katniss Mellark watched with their 34-year-old daughter Clementine as the President took the podium.

"Happy Hunger Games! I can't believe it myself, but it's already time for our 5th Quarter Quell." He recited all the previous Quell twists: "On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes that would represent it. On the fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder that two rebels died for every Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes. On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the people of Panem that the Capitol's control extends over all, two tributes were reaped from the children of the district and a further two from the adults. On the one-hundredth anniversary, as a reminder that rebels destroyed future generations, the tributes were selected from the ages of 5 to 11."

At the mention of their Quells, 91-year-old Haymitch and 92-year-old Steffan weakly chinked flasks, before offering some to their granddaughter, who declined.

The President by now had pulled out the card. He read: "On the one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the tributes shall be reaped from their existing pools of victors."

The Mellarks and their relatives all cried out in protest. District 12 had five victors to choose from: 3 male. 2 female. Who would return to the arena?

* * *

Peeta and Katniss decided to return to the arena together, after 51 years on the outside. This way, their loved ones would be spared. The Star Crossed Lovers made it into the Top Six before Katniss managed to destroy the force field surrounding the arena. The survivors were spirited away to District 13, where Katniss and Peeta led a rebellion that would eventually topple the Capitol and destroy the Hunger Games forever.

The Mellark victors and Haymitch then returned to District 12, where all lived out the rest of their days together.


End file.
